This project began as a discussion around a campfire at a land project in Tennessee, where people discussed how we could build an off-grid internet to enable secure, off-grid text messaging between intentional communities without using the public internet or other fragile infrastructure.
It was immediately obvious that this would also be enormously beneficial for things like disaster preparedness and response.
Further conversations led to the idea of hosting the nodes of this network in community gardens which are already hubs of communications and resource distribution.
The Cyberpony Express was born!
LoRa
The technology we are using for the Cyberpony Express is called LoRa or long-range radio. This is an open-source technology which uses a free, open-source software stack called Meshtastic to enable secure, end-to-end-encrypted communication between devices across distances of twenty miles or more.
The network we are building will be free and public, enabling anyone to communicate securely without needing to use the internet or public cell phone networks.
Additionally, it natively supports mesh networking, meaning you’re able to reach people several hops away across multiple nodes. A city like San Francisco is only seven miles across, meaning this technology is enormously powerful in terms of enabling secure and resilient communications, especially during disasters.
Workshops!
We are also launching a GoFundMe to accept restricted donations that can only be spent on installing Cyberpony Express nodes, and an online store where you can buy assembled nodes, stickers, or stickers which sponsor the installation of a node.
Zoom Links for the following sessions will be posted on discord for those who want to join. Sessions will be live streamed on TikTok and recordings posted on YouTube.
- 2025-03-13 – Initial Workshop
- 2025-03-27 – Hardware Strategy/Development
- Topics covered include node types, build lists, educational content strategy, and opportunities for custom hardware development.
- Watch the recording of this workshop on YouTube!
- 2025-04-03 – 7pm (PDT) – 9pm – Siting
- Topics covered include how and where we want to site the different types of nodes
- 2025-04-10 – 7pm (PDT) – 9pm – BBS/ Librarian
- Topics covered include current Meshtastic BBS projects and the goals for this project, including: LLM/RAG integration, long-distance option.
Build Lists
Further Reading:
“LoRa’s Wireless Range is Bananas. A first look at Cellular for IoT in San Francisco.“